News South Africa

Luxity’s latest State of the Luxury Market in Africa report shows a decisive change in how South Africans buy high-end goods. Bags, jewellery and watches are in. Shoes, wallets and overhyped items are out. The luxury consumer has not disappeared, but has simply become harder to impress.

This evidence for the most complex technology known in hunter-gatherer behaviour is a ‘clear sign of advanced thinking in early humans’, the scientists believe.

Elephants are steadily reducing the number of mature marula trees in the park, while regeneration has all but collapsed due to browsing from other herbivores. By allowing their numbers to remain at current levels we are choosing short-term comfort over long-term ecological integrity.

Seasoned broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer brings you The Lead, News24’s definitive podcast for in-depth reporting. This is The Lead, and this is the South African story.

The South African Weather Service has issued warnings of disruptive rain, which may lead to flooding in parts of Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal, where severe thunderstorms are also expected.

Some personnel have been asked to depart the United States’ Al Udeid military base in Qatar, two diplomatic sources told AFP on Wednesday, with the Gulf state saying “regional tensions” were behind the move.

[Premium Times] He said the agreement restores confidence to the academics, predictability of academic calendars, and hope to Nigerian students.

[Premium Times] The 2025 agreement reached on 23 December replaced the 2009 FG-ASUU agreement and marked an end to a 16-year dispute between the government and the academics.

[Capital FM] Nairobi — Chuka University’s Faculty of Law has yet to complete its licence renewal despite paying the required fees following the expiry of its mandate on December 10, 2025.

[Scrolla] Government leaders visit Northern Lights Special School and find safety staff and transport problems affecting children with physical disabilities. Officials promise help after school raises concerns about break ins, lack of nurses, therapists and reliable learner transport.

Coal power generation fell in China and India for the first time since the 1970s last year, in a “historic” moment that could bring a decline in global emissions, according to analysis. From a report: The simultaneous fall in coal-powered electricity in the world’s biggest coal-consuming countries had not happened since 1973, according to analysts at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean...

Systems like OpenAI’s GPT-5 are accelerating research in math, biology and chemistry. But there is a debate over whether it can do that work on its own.

If SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic go public, they will unleash gushers of cash for Silicon Valley and Wall Street.

McKinsey is asking graduate applicants to “collaborate” with an AI tool as part of its recruitment process, as competence with the technology becomes a requirement in competing for top-level jobs. From a report: The blue-chip consultancy is incorporating an “AI interview” into some final-round interviews, according to CaseBasix, a US company that helps candidates apply for posts at leading...

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. placed about 90 percent of the roughly 1,000 employees of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health on administrative leave last April.

That number could increase significantly as more consumers are faced with higher bills brought on by expiring premium subsidies.